Ask Howard Treesong About Law or Lawyering

[Adebisi]

Why do you think juries are so pro-prosecution in criminal cases? I've seen statistics that indicate conviction rates of 75%+ in some jurisdictions. Given how easy it is for prosecutors to get indictments, There should be a LOT more aquitals in our court system. It's very very difficult to prove that a person did something beyond a reasonable doubt. Especially given constitutional limitations and rules of evidence. Just looking at the design of the U.S. criminal justice system on paper, I would guess the conviction rate should be somewhere between 15-25%.

I think the two factors that contribute most to this phenomenon are the facts that sample of the population that serves on criminal juries is skewed towards excessively pro-government people, and the police/prosecution have exponentially more resources at their disposal than your average defendant.

Any thoughts on this?

Do you think there's a chance that this bug in the system can/will be fixed?

[ahnuld]

this is very me specific, but im hoping you could answer anyways:

My brother is debating between law schools and has a full preacceptance scholarship offer from GWU. If he accepts the conditions is he has to go there. Im wondering 1) What can they do if he doesnt? And 2) It is that much more highly regarded than a canadian school like University of Toronto or Mcgill?

[gumpzilla]

[ QUOTE ]
this is very me specific, but im hoping you could answer anyways:

My brother is debating between law schools and has a full preacceptance scholarship offer from GWU. If he accepts the conditions is he has to go there. Im wondering 1) What can they do if he doesnt? And 2) It is that much more highly regarded than a canadian school like University of Toronto or Mcgill?

[/ QUOTE ]

I would be surprised if it weren't less regarded, generally. Looking at rankings online, it looks like Toronto and McGill are 2 of the 3 most esteemed law schools in Canada, and GWU is in the 20s in the US. Especially if he wants to practice in Canada, the Canadian schools seem like a better bet, but a free ride is nothing to sneeze at here.

[ahnuld]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
this is very me specific, but im hoping you could answer anyways:

My brother is debating between law schools and has a full preacceptance scholarship offer from GWU. If he accepts the conditions is he has to go there. Im wondering 1) What can they do if he doesnt? And 2) It is that much more highly regarded than a canadian school like University of Toronto or Mcgill?

[/ QUOTE ]

I would be surprised if it weren't less regarded, generally. Looking at rankings online, it looks like Toronto and McGill are 2 of the 3 most esteemed law schools in Canada, and GWU is in the 20s in the US. Especially if he wants to practice in Canada, the Canadian schools seem like a better bet, but a free ride is nothing to sneeze at here.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, those were my thoughts. However because of the fact that american school put so much weight on LSAT scores (he got 171) and less weight on GPA (3.3) he has a much better chance of getting in to a tier 1 american school than the best canadian school (U of T).

Is law something where if you learn it in the states you can only practice in the states? I know quebec/montreal is very unique because we have civil law as opposed to common law. But if you learn common law its transnational as long as the other country/state has common law as well?

[FlyWf]

The distinction between common and civil law is philosophical, not procedural.

Also civil law is more popular than common, continental Europe is all civil law. Louisiana and Quebec are unique when compared to the rest of Canada and the US, UK/Canada/US are unique compared to the world at large.

[JaBlue]

From what I've seen, lawyering seems to be nothing more than oration, trying to make the worse argument the better, to flatter the jury, to win an argument with little regard for truth. Why should anyone respect lawyers?

[Howard Treesong]

[ QUOTE ]
From what I've seen, lawyering seems to be nothing more than oration, trying to make the worse argument the better, to flatter the jury, to win an argument with little regard for truth. Why should anyone respect lawyers?

[/ QUOTE ]

Oration is the visible tip of a much deeper and more complicated iceberg. Good lawyering involves finding out and understanding facts, doing accurate risk assessment, and organizing highly complex processes. Truth matters quite a bit, although the adversarial process isn't necessarily the best way to root it out. In my case, I'm not a high-charisma guy, and typically rely on more thorough and careful analysis to carry the day. That's also why I was mostly a defense lawyer. If I had to characterize in very very broad strokes, I'd say the plaintiffs' bar rates higher in charisma, while the defense bar rates higher on the analysis scale. That's certainly not a universal truth, of course.

At the edges, your criticisms have merit. At root, I don't think they accurately reflect what most litigators do, setting aside all the other types of lawyers out there.

[BretWeir]

Where is your brother hoping to practice? If he wants to practice in Canada, then it's a no-brainer--go to one of the Canadian schools.

If he wants to be in the U.S., then a solid middle-first-tier school like GWU is probably going to open more doors than even a top-ranked Canadian school. (Incidentally, if UT and McGill were lumped in to the U.S. market, I doubt they'd be ranked that much higher than 20th.)

Some major U.S. firms might hire an applicant or two a year from top Canadian law schools, but recruiting and alumni networks are much more focused on American schools.

Also, GWU has some very good young faculty members and is aggressively building its reputation. I wouldn't be surprised to see it move up in the rankings over the next few years--I think it'll certainly break the top 20, and may move up to the mid-teens.

No idea what the consequences of breaking a "preacceptance condition" would be. I imagine the school would just blackball you if you tried to reapply in the future; not sure if they'd be able to do more than that.

[MissT74]

HT,

Long time no talk, how the heck are ya??

1. If you're arrested or brought in for questioning for something you didn't do, how long before you should ask for your lawyer?

2. Same question, but you DID do it.

3. El Diablo asked first, but I was going to ask about Law & Order as well.

T

[Howard Treesong]

[ QUOTE ]
HT,

Long time no talk, how the heck are ya??

1. If you're arrested or brought in for questioning for something you didn't do, how long before you should ask for your lawyer?

2. Same question, but you DID do it.

[/ QUOTE ]

On (2), immediately. Prosecutors cannot be trusted to be objective, and you must assume the worst. On (1), I would personally retain counsel immediately for any kind of felony. I would like to think that being up-front with prosecutors is the right move, but Nifong is a good counterexample to that: he simply didn't care that the lacrosse team just didn't commit any crimes. Dealing with that on your own is really tricky, so I'd only try dealing with it on my own if the downside were pretty minor.